We Need To Talk About The 2018 Grammy Nominations: Snubs And Surprises

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The good, the bad and the ignored.

Nominations for the 2018 Grammy Awards were announced today, and there are quite a few surprises (good and bad).

Hip-Hop ruled the nominations. JAY Z leads the pack with eight nods. Kendrick Lamar scored seven nods, and Childish Gambino received five. The Recording Academy was under fire in years’ past for not including more diversity in the top categories, so this is a welcome change. Some are claiming the move to include more urban acts is racially-motivated, thus shutting out white acts which in itself is problematic, but this is also the Internet. No one wins.

Where the HELL is Demi Lovato? The pop star was outspoken about the poorly-timed release of Tell Me You Love Me a few months ago – she was up against Miley Cyrus’ Younger Now and Shania Twain’s Now, but a No. 1 on the Billboard 200 wasn’t important to her. She wanted to submit the record in time to be eligible for the Grammys. You can understand now why this is very sad. Her record is genuinely great and deserved recognition. “Sorry Not Sorry” FTW.

Taylor Swift’s Reputation receives zero nominations. “Look What You Made Me Do” dropped before the Grammys’ submission deadline, but it appears the Recording Academy wishes the old Taylor didn’t die. It’s not all terrible for the pop star, though. Swift received two nominations this year: one in the Best Country Song category for writing Little Big Town’s “Better Man,” and another for Best Song Written For Visual Media for her Zayn Malik collab, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever.”

Katy Perry’s Witness receives zero nominations. It’s been a really rough year for the pop star. The media has dragged her through the mud after her most-recent album underperformed. Not even a 3-day live stream of her life could help spike sales. “Swish Swish” could have been shown some live.

Lorde is the only female nominated in the Album of the Year category.Melodrama is a pop masterpiece and it deserves this. She’s up against Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love!, JAY Z’s 4:44, Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic. What’s more surprising here is Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote and produced the album, did not get a nomination in the Producer of the Year category. However, he did score a nod in the Song written for visual media category for “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever.”

Not a single nomination for Nicki Minaj? The Hot 100 Queen was featured on some seriously great songs over the last year. This sucks.

Harry Styles shut out. The former One Directioner released a thought-out, cohesive body of work with his debut solo album, but it got no love. “Sign Of The Times,” “Kiwi” and “Two Ghosts” performed exceedingly well this year and proved the U.K. crooner could stand on his own two feet. Unfortunately, the Recording Academy disagrees.

The Weeknd gets one nomination.Starboy is one of the best albums of the last year, but it received only one nod – in the Best Urban Contemporary Album category.

Ed Sheeran was also snubbed. He received two nominations for Divide, but the second best-selling album of 2017 was widely under appreciated by the Recording Academy. The blogosphere was preparing for Sheeran to duke it out with Kendrick Lamar in a handful of categories, but that’s a no-go.

Cardi B was not nominated in the Best New Artist category. She should have, but the rapper did score several nominations, including “Bodak Yellow” in the Best Rap Song category. Fun fact: Cardi is nominated in the Best Rap Song category under her songwriting name, “Washpoppin.” She is credited under her name for Best Rap Performance.

Justice for Britney Spears’ Glory. There’s a reason why the princess of pop famously said the Grammys could kiss her ass.

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